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                              Pachicom FAQ
                           For the NES/Famicom
                     Version 1.0 (Created 5/7/2009)
                             By Devin Morgan

     This file is Copyright (c)2009 Devin Morgan. All rights reserved.

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Table of Contents

1. What's New
2. Introduction
3. Controls
4. Overview
5. Copyright Notice

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-=  1. What's New -=
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Version 1.0 (5/7/09): The first version of this FAQ.

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-=  2. Introduction -=
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Pachicom is one of many pachinko-themed games released for the Famicom. The
game of pachinko is hugely popular in Japan, since it involves playing
pinball with an element of slot machines mixed in, with gambling involved as
well. It is a mindless sort of game since you do nothing but watch the metal
balls (what you use to play the game) launch into and fall through the board
continuously. In this particular game, you will have two game modes: play to
get a high score, and play until the timer runs out. There are over 300 board
layouts to choose from when playing this game, so if you are into pachinko or
want a simple game to get accustomed to it, try this one out!

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-=  3. Controls -=
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Control Pad: Switch game boards (Select A/B), adjust shooting pressure knob
            in game

Start: Start/pause game

Select: Switch game modes on title screen

A: Send balls into play (hold for continuous fire)

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-=  4. Overview -=
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==========
Game Modes
==========

On the title screen, there are four gameplay modes you can choose from. They
are as follows:

Game A: You are given a randomly selected board to play on. The timer starts
       at zero, and the game goes on until you score at least 3000 points.
       You then go to a Bonus Round where the objective is to hit the little
       man who randomly moves around on the board. Once this round is
       complete, the game is over.

Game B: For this mode, the timer starts at 100,000 (basically 1000 seconds,
       which comes out to about 17 minutes of gameplay). The objective here
       is to score as many points as you can before the timer reaches zero.
       Once that happens, the game is over.

Select A: Same as Game A, but you get to select the game board yourself from
         the 300+ available boards. Use Up/Down to go one at a time, and
         Left/Right to go 10 at a time.

Select B: Same as Game B, but you get to select the game board yourself from
         the 300+ available boards. Use Up/Down to go one at a time, and
         Left/Right to go 10 at a time.


================
General Gameplay
================

Pachinko is basically a vertical pinball machine which players use tiny metal
balls to play. It is also a heavily popular form of gambling in Japan, which
explains why there are so many of these games on this and other systems!
Anyway, the game board has a layout with nails sticking out, which the metal
balls bounce off of or fall in between, in order to traverse the board. Also
on the board are certain compartments where if a metal ball falls into it,
you will receive points. If a ball makes it to the bottom of the board
without landing in anything, you lose that ball (and a point). Initially, you
start off with 100 balls (points).

In this game, on the bottom-right area is a ring-shaped button with a smaller
circle inside of it. This is the pressure control for launching the pachinko
balls into the game board above. Use the Left/Right buttons to turn the knob,
increasing or decreasing the pressure, allowing the metal balls to go
shorter/farther with each shot. It is a good idea to continually fire balls
while adjusting the pressure so you can have the best idea of what settings
you like the most.


===========
Game Boards
===========

In Pachicom, there are two types of game boards you will encounter. The two
types will be discussed below. In both modes, if a ball gets stuck on the
board, gameplay will temporarily stop and a little man will appear. Move him
to the ball which is stuck and he will take it; move to another location and
drop the ball to resume the game.

Type 1
------

This type of board will have an open compartment in the center area, with
flaps that open and close, preventing your balls from getting into the inner
compartment for added points. Along the bottom of those boards are three
segments, with the two side sections bearing a "1", and the middle one with a
"2" on it. It seems that if a ball goes into the "2" slot, you gain 50
points, and the "1" slots will get 25 points.

Elsewhere on the board, there are four cup-like structures with openings on
the top of them. Get a ball into any of them to receive 10 points. There are
also four fans on the board, where if a ball passes through, it will change
the ball's course of movement. If a ball gets into the top-middle opening,
some noises will occur and the flaps below it will start opening and closing
every second, allowing access to the center area, where additional points can
be earned.


Type 2
------

The other board type in this game features a slot machine in the center area.
There are still fans and four cup-like structures elsewhere on the board, as
described for the Type 1 boards. However, along the bottom of the board is a
drawer with "OPEN" above it. The cup directly above that section (and
directly below the slot machine itself) will allow for the slot reels to spin
once. If you line up three of the same images/numbers in the slot (it
randomly stops, so you have no control here), the bottom drawer will open and
you will be able to receive even more points as a reward.

In the slot machine itself, there is a "0" below the reels. Just above it is
a black space. If you send numerous balls into the cup below it, that space
will fill with small blocks, which will tell you how many more spins there
will be at that point (unless of course you send more balls into the cup).

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-=  5. Copyright Notice -=
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This file is Copyright (c)2009 Devin Morgan. All rights reserved. Please view
the following URL to see the list of sites that are allowed to post my work:

http://www.freewebs.com/dbmfaqs/allowlist.html

This list is comprised of sites I know and trust well. If your site is not on
the aforementioned list, you are currently not allowed to post any of my
files on your site. Please respect my work and do not steal it or post it
without my permission. I only want my most recent work to be available and I
do not feel that can be achieved if others take from me without my knowledge
or permission.

If you are writing a FAQ for this game as well, and would like to use some
information, credit me for what you use. Please do not rip me off, as that is
blatant plagiarism and such will not be tolerated.

If you wish to contact me, do so at dbmfaqs(at)gmail(dot)com. Please only
contact me if there are corrections to be made to information that's
currently included. Thanks!

http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/recognition/3579.html

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